By Frank Lotierzo

This past weekend, the boxing public was duped into spending fifty dollars for a fight with the hopes of seeing a great fighter/champion redeem himself. Instead, they saw that great fighter show up and fight like he was the sparring partner of a great champion. In his rubber match with Antonio Tarver, Roy Jones fought with the purpose of just going the distance.

In order to achieve that, he fought just hard enough to keep from getting knocked out, but never fought to win and he didn't. Not only that, but he was even relieved after the loss to his biggest rival. Something the complete opposite of what he said in the months before the fight.

 

The one thing every great champion with the exception of Rocky Marciano had to prove at some point during their career, is they could overcome a loss. In three redemption bouts, Jones is winless (0-3).

The fact Jones is/was one of the most gifted and talented fighters of the last thirty years, doesn't mean he's close to being one of the toughest mentally or physically. Against Tarver in their third fight, he proved beyond a doubt that adversity was something he couldn't cope with. Hard to believe at one time there were writers and fans who thought Jones was Sugar Ray Robinson's equal. Hopefully, after seeing Roy Jones fight to survive against an opponent he accepted he couldn't beat, along with hearing him admit it afterward, they'll never demean Robinson by comparing them again.

 

Finally, sixteen months after his rematch with Tarver, Jones decided he wanted redememption and fought a rubber match against him to clear the record. Or so we were lead to believe. He claimed ever since Tarver stretched him that it was a result of nothing more than a lucky punch. Something we now know, based on how he fought he didn't even believe.

However, when Roy signed for the rubber match, I really thought he accepted the terms of the contract and would give it his all and live with the results. I couldn't have been more wrong.

 

Well, just maybe I can redeem myself this weekend. Here's something I'll take a chance on and say with impunity. Tomorrow night Jose Castillo takes on Diego Corrales in a rematch of their guaranteed to win fight of the year first bout fought last May. In that bout, Castillo was stopped in the 10th round of a very brutal fight. So brutal that Corrales, the winner, refers to it as hell.

I'm willing to bet that Castillo will fight to win from bell-to-bell every minute of every round. I predict not once will it ever look as if Castillo is just fighting to survive. That's because he hasn't accepted Corrales as being the better fighter.

 

On one hand you have Jones who absorbed less punishment than any champion in history, yet couldn't overcome his first legitimate lost in which he was stopped. Compared to Castillo who was stopped four times before Corrales stopped him in his last fight. Not only hasn't there been a single individual question if Castillo will fight to win in the rematch, a lot of respected boxing insiders are picking him to come out on top.

Funny how Castillo is expected to show up and fight without trepidation, while Jones has actually been praised for not getting knocked out.

 

I Wonder how Castillo will feel if he goes the distance with Corrales this time but loses the decision? A bigger question is, how come Jones is not expected to do the same as Castillo?

I don't recall Castillo ever being referred to as the equal of Roberto Duran. The great fighter, Roy Jones, has writers/fans bending over backwards to make excuses for him, yet Castillo will not get anything close to the credit he should for doing what Jones couldn't? Not come apart after losing or being stopped.